Girls were imprisoned in bedrooms for two years: Arizona police

A 2012 police mugshot of Fernando Richter. On Nov. 26, 2013, he was arrested with his wife for locking her three daughters in their rooms and abusing them.Tucson Police Department

An Arizona mother and stepfather were being held on kidnapping and child abuse charges Tuesday for allegedly imprisoning their three girls — who were found malnourished in a filthy home and hadn't bathed in months, police said.

Tucson police said officers responding to a 911 call found two girls, 12 and 13 years old, at a neighbor’s house at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. The girls told officers they had escaped their home after their stepdad kicked in the door to their bedroom and attempted to attack them with a knife, police said.

The girls also said, according to police, they had been held prisoners in the bedroom they shared for about two years.

When officers went to the house they discovered their sister, 17, locked in another bedroom, police said.